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Cinderella Man (2005)
Cinderella Man (2005) poster

Cinderella Man (2005)

Romance, Drama, History • 2h 24m

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine, Bruce McGill, David Huband, Connor Price, Ariel Waller, Patrick Louis, Rosemarie DeWitt, Linda Kash, Nicholas Campbell, Gene Pyrz, Chuck Shamata, Ron Canada, Alicia Johnston, Troy Amos-Ross, Mark Simmons, Art Binkowski, David Litzinger, Matthew G. Taylor, Rance Howard, James Ritz, Fulvio Cecere, Clint Howard, Gerry Ellison, Bill Mackie, Ray Marsh, Fernand Chretien, Dave Dunbar, Ken James, Rufus Crawford, Angelo Dundee, Lou Eisen, Wayne Gordon, Wayne Flemming, Nick Alachiotis, Christopher D. Amos, Nick Carusi, Keith Murphy, Everton McEwan, John Kalbhenn, David Georgieff, Wayne Bourque, Sean Gilroy, Michael McNamara, Billy Wine, Richard Bachynsky Hoover, Michael Chin, Stewart Lunn, Richard Lewis, Peter Wylie, Thomasz Kurzydlowski, Stuart Clark, Julian Lewis, Eric Fink, Sergio Di Zio, Gavin Grazer, Boyd Banks, Daniel Kash, Judah Katz, Angelo Tsarouchas, Rob Smith, Aaron Abrams, Duff MacDonald, Andrew Stelmack, Christopher Crumb, Gerry Quigley, Peter MacNeill, Darrin Brown, John Healy, Peter Didiano, James Kirchner, Michael Langlois, Magdalena Alexander, Nola Augustson, Gino Marrocco, Sharron Matthews, Alec Stockwell, Chick Roberts, Isabella Fink, Beau Starr, Philip Craig, Roman Podhora, R.D. Reid, Michael Dyson, Sam Malkin, Tony Munch, Conrad Bergschneider, Richard Binsley, Ramona Pringle, Katrina Matthews Swain, Cooper Bracken, Jacob Bracken, Alon Nashman, Dominic Cuzzocrea, Neil Foster, Brian Jagersky, Ray Kerr, Tim Eddis, Dave Arkell, Debra Sherman, Joanne Ritcey, Alex Cairns, George Duff

Best English-friendly release

Updated 1 year ago

Best video release


UHD tiers

Excellent
Universal

About the film

The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.

More from Ron Howard

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Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Universal 4K Blu-ray

IMAX Cut: 2005 DVD

Best Audio:

Theatrical: Cinema DTS

Director: Ron Howard

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

2026 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook

Best Video:

2026 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook added Dolby Vision

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1998 Universal DVD

Director: Ron Howard

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Universal 4K Blu-ray - caps. Looks stunning against the horribly neutralized old master. Very glad Deakins supervised the new grade and had Universal restore his color filters.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Universal Blu-ray (included in the 4K edition) has the original 5.1 mix not on the 4K disc 

Additional Info:

The original 5.1 surround mix from the 2011 USA BD was included alongside the new Atmos upmix. The compatibility track is a downmix of the Atmos. The Atmos is overall lightly remixed with noticeably more high frequencies rolled-off relative to the old 5.1. I think the 5.1 sounds better. The 5.1 mix from the USA BD was used as it sounds essentially the same as the EUR BD (with some minor loudness differences) while not featuring the dither noise and low frequency noise that the EUR has. Commentaries between the USA UHD and USA BD are the same, with both featuring Dolby Surround metadata

Audio comparison: 5.1 surround

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical Cut: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Extended Cut: The 30th Anniversary Extended Cut on fanedit.org

Sources: fanedit.org (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Theatrical Cut: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Extended Cut: The 30th Anniversary Extended Cut on fanedit.org has the additional TV footage and is also uncut.

Additional Info:

The TV version is extended but is censored. The Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is restored from an interpositive, no release so far is confirmed to be from the Original Camera Negative.

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 Universal LaserDisc [41131]

Director: Ron Howard

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

OOP British Eureka Blu-Ray

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Disney Blu-ray
Extended: LaserDisc or fan restoration

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Extended: Old Sony Blu-ray

More from Universal

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Director: Alicia MacDonald

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Michael Cimino

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2020 Shout! Factory 4K

Video Notes:

2020 Shout! Factory 4K slightly better than StudioCanal in HDR10. Similar in DV

Best Audio:

35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc

70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc marginally better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is downmix.

70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is remix.

Director: Doug Liman

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Cut: US Universal HD-DVD

International Cut: International Universal HD-DVD

Video Notes:

The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray DTS-HD 5.1

Additional Info:

Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.

Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.

Director: Brian De Palma

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1993 Universal LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Carlito’s Way was released theatrically in both Dolby Stereo and DTS. The 2.0 on the Arrow UHD is the original stereo mix, unknown if the 5.1 mix on the  Arrow disc is the original DTS mix.

Director: H. C. Potter

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: David Butler

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Marion Gering

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Both come from a 4K scan of a 35mm film out which was made from the original 2K DI but the Lionsgate release has visible dust and damage marks while the Universal release is cleaned up more thoroughly. Both releases suffer from DNR which seems to have been baked into the DI. The colour grade is basically the same for both releases but the Lionsgate has Dolby Vision whereas the Universal is HDR10 only. The compression on the Lionsgate UHD base layer is apparently fine so the FEL doesn't make much of a difference.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray?

Audio Notes:

The Lionsgate UHD has Dolby Atmos whereas the Universal UHD has DTS:X. Kick-ass was originally released with a 5.1 track which may be on the Universal Blu-ray.

Additional Info:

The Lionsgate UHD is on a BD-100, the Universal UHD is on a BD-66.

The Universal UHD has no extras.

Director: Joel Coen

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)

Director: Leo McCarey

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal DVD

Upcoming Release:

Universal Blu-ray Nov 10th

More Romance on Blu-ray

Director: Robert Altman

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Vinegar Syndrome Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cinematrographe's HDR grading is overcooked, which is a known VinSyn tendency. Additionally, their booklet mis-credits the encode to FiM.

YMMV, but for some, the included BD encoded by Marcus Johnson—ironically may make for a more pleasing experience.

Director: Frank Oz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Steve Gordon

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Vincent Sherman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Compton Bennett

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from original technicolor negatives

Director: Jack Conway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: George B. Seitz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Jack Conway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: William Dieterle

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

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· last reviewed 1 year ago

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